The Federal Register’s website used an AI model from Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA), allowing users to search for proposed federal rules. This occurred despite the FBI previously accusing the company of “malicious” imitation of American AI lab Anthropic‘s AI models, according to a report.
What Happened at Federal Register?
The website’s search feature was using the Chinese company’s AI model Qwen on Wednesday, besides other search choices, Reuters reported. However, the Qwen-backed search was removed on Wednesday when social media posts started to circulate regarding it. The news outlet had viewed screenshots and an archived version of the website’s source code.
It was not known when the search tool using Qwen was deployed by the website, which comes under the National Archives.
Alibaba and the National Archives did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comment.
Alibaba Faces Allegations of Replicating U.S. AI Technology
Last week, the FBI alleged that Alibaba copied Claude AI chatbot maker Anthropic’s AI models to develop the company’s AI models. This comes at a time when Chinese President Xi Jinping is slated to meet President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., next week.
The U.S. officials said at the time that AI firms in China were engaged in “malicious” replication of American technology at an “industrial scale.”
Futurum Group CEO Daniel Newman accused Chinese AI labs of relying on U.S. frontier models to advance their own systems, after Anthropic disclosed large-scale efforts to extract capabilities from Claude. Newman said on social media platform X that the alleged activity was “freaking insane” and noted that some Chinese AI models may not be as independently developed as widely portrayed.
Anthropic had disclosed several warnings in a new threat intelligence report on malicious activity involving its Claude models between December 2025 and August 2026. Among the warnings uncovered by the company was a China-based operation that used Claude to power more than 4,700 AI personas across a network of more than 20 dating apps.
In June, Anthropic told U.S. lawmakers that operators affiliated with Alibaba and its AI research unit, Qwen, conducted a large-scale "distillation" campaign between April 22 and June 5, 2026.
Shares of Alibaba closed 1.18% higher at $108.54 on Thursday. After hours, the stock was up 0.21% to $108.76.
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